LikeThroat

Ursula, Saint

2005-04-04T09:54:00.000-07:00

Legendary leader of 11 or 11,000 virgins reputedly martyred at Cologne, now in Germany, by the Huns, 4th-century nomadic invaders of southeastern Europe. The story is based on a 4th- or 5th-century inscription from St. Ursula's Church, Cologne, stating that an ancient basilica had been restored on the site where some holy virgins were killed. Mentioned

Sarada Script

2005-04-03T23:14:00.000-07:00

Writing system used for the Kashmiri language by the educated Hindu minority in Kashmir and the surrounding valleys. It is taught in the Hindu schools there but is not used in printing books. Originating in the 8th century AD, Sarada descended from the Gupta script of North India, from which Devanagari (q.v.) also developed. The earliest inscriptions in Sarada script, found

France, History Of, Rural life

2005-04-01T21:59:00.000-08:00

Rural life changed more gradually. The expanding markets favoured well-endowed or efficient lords or peasants who could produce a surplus of goods for sale. Such conditions were less common in the south than in the north, although they could be found in most wine-producing areas. But, while rising prices benefited producers, they contributed to certain difficulties

Kabwe

2005-03-30T23:06:00.000-08:00

Formerly Broken Hill, town, central Zambia. It is an important transportation and mining centre north of Lusaka on the Great North Road, at an elevation of 3,879 feet (1,182 m). The Rhodesian Broken Hill Development Company (formed 1903) was instrumental in opening the region to foreign mining interests. After the mine was sunk for extraction of the high-grade zinc, vanadium, and lead ores, the first railway

Murad, Ferid

2005-03-27T13:03:00.000-08:00

Murad

Race

2005-03-26T13:49:00.000-08:00

The modern meaning of the term race with reference to humans began to emerge in the 17th century. Since then it has had a variety of meanings in the languages of the Western world. What most definitions have in common is an attempt to categorize peoples primarily by their physical differences. In the United States, for example, the term race generally refers to a group

Hooded Seal

2005-03-24T05:51:00.000-08:00

Also called Bladdernose Seal (Cystophora cristata), dark-faced seal of the family Phocidae, found in open waters of the North Atlantic and Arctic oceans. It is characterized by a large “hood” on the top of the snout. Grayish with either light or dark blotches (less distinct in the female), the hooded seal is gregarious and apparently feeds mainly on fish. The adult male may be about 3.5 metres (12 feet) long and

Durand, Guillaume

2005-03-22T11:09:00.000-08:00

After receiving a doctorate in canon law at Bologna, Italy, Durand taught briefly there and later at Modena, Italy. Some time after 1260 he was appointed auditor (a judge commissioned to hear cases of appeal brought to the Holy See). At the second Council of Lyon (1274), he helped draft the statutes

Lancet, The

2005-03-20T14:10:00.000-08:00

British medical journal established in 1823. The journal's founder and first editor was Thomas Wakley, considered at the time to be a radical reformer. Wakley stated the intent of the new journal was to report on the metropolitan hospital lectures and to describe the important cases of the day. The Lancet has since played an important role in medical and hospital reform

Sarada Script

2005-03-19T09:10:00.000-08:00

Condé, Louis Ii De Bourbon, 4e Prince De

2005-03-18T11:51:00.000-08:00

The princes de Condé were the heads of an important French branch of the House of Bourbon. The Great Condé was the elder son of Henry II de Bourbon, 3rd prince de Condé, and of his wife, Charlotte

Eberhard I

2005-03-17T09:43:00.000-08:00

Eberhard expanded his territories and in 1482 established primogeniture and settled the succession to his holdings. The towns of Stuttgart and Tübingen received charters, and Eberhard reformed

Cabasilas, Nilus

2005-03-15T10:42:00.000-08:00

Cabasilas' principal

Biblical Literature, Kings: the second book

2005-03-15T07:17:00.000-08:00

The Second Book of Kings continues the history of the monarchies of Israel and Judah and of the prophetic movement. Ahaziah fell from an upper chamber of his palace in Samaria and sought help from Baalzebub, the god of Ekron. Elijah met the messengers to castigate them for not seeking aid from Yahweh, the God of Israel, and told a third delegation that had been sent out

Ansky, S.

2005-03-14T07:41:00.000-08:00

Ansky was educated in a Hasidic environment and as a young man was attracted to the Jewish Enlightenment (Haskala) and to the populist doctrines of the Narodniki, a group of socialist revolutionaries. For a time he worked among the peasants and contributed

Condom

2005-03-12T16:34:00.000-08:00

Contraceptive device consisting of a sheath that fits over the penis and that is intended to prevent the escape of semen into the vagina. It is made of very thin, flexible rubber or a rubberlike plastic (latex). The condom has long been used as protection against venereal infections and other sexually transmitted diseases, and by the 17th century it was utilized as a contraceptive

Anglo-saxon Chronicle

2005-03-11T10:15:00.000-08:00

Chronological account of events in Anglo-Saxon and Norman England, a compilation of seven surviving interrelated manuscript records that is the primary source for the early history of England. The narrative was first assembled in the reign of King Alfred (871–899) from materials that included some epitome of universal history: the Venerable Bede's Historia ecclesiastica

Sundman, Per Olof

2005-03-10T15:49:00.000-08:00

Per Olof Sundman spent much of his life in the northern province of Jämtland and used that isolated area as a locale for his first book, Jägarna (1957; “The Hunters”), a collection of short stories. It is not incidents or human relationships

Port Blair

2005-03-09T17:22:00.000-08:00

City and capital of Andaman and Nicobar Islands union territory, India, in the Bay of Bengal. The city lies on the hilly southeastern coast of South Andaman Island. It is a market town with a sawmill, several local museums, and an airport. Pop. (1991 prelim.) 74,810.

Mitla

2005-03-08T18:44:00.000-08:00

Meso-American archaeological site, Oaxaca state, southern Mexico. One of Mexico's best known ruins, Mitla lies at an elevation of 4,855 ft (1,480 m) on the eastern edge of one of several cold, high valleys surrounded by the mountains of the Sierra Madre del Sur, 24 mi (38 km) southeast of Oaxaca city. It is generally believed that Mitla (Nahuatl: Place of the Dead) was established as a sacred burial

Lamoricière, Christophe-louis-leon Juchault De

2005-03-08T10:31:00.000-08:00

After entering the engineers in 1829, Lamoricière was sent to Algiers (1830) as a captain in the Zouaves. In 1833 he played a prominent role in the creation of the Arab Bureau, which was to coordinate information on French Arab colonies. Military success at Constantine led to

Alexander

2005-03-07T03:32:00.000-08:00

The only child of Prince (later King) Milan (reigned 1868–89) and his consort, Natalie, Alexander ascended the Serbian throne on March 6 (Feb. 22), 1889, after his father had abdicated and named a regency

Dubbing

2005-03-06T11:40:00.000-08:00

In filmmaking, the process of adding new dialogue or other sounds to the sound track of a motion picture that has already been shot. Dubbing is most familiar to audiences as a means of translating foreign-language films into the audience's language. When a foreign language is dubbed, the translation of the original dialogue is carefully matched to the lip movements

Rubinstein, Anton

2005-03-05T08:56:00.000-08:00

In 1835 Rubinstein's father opened a small factory in Moscow, and there in the same year his brother Nikolay was born. Both boys were taught piano, first by their mother and then by Aleksandr Villoing. Anton gave his

Yunnankweichow Plateau

2005-03-03T03:18:00.000-08:00

Wade-Giles romanization Yün-nan–kuei-chou Kao-yüan , Pinyin Yunnan–guizhou Gaoyuan , also called Kweichow Plateau , or Yunkwei Plateau highland region comprising the northern part of Yunnan province and the western part of Kweichow province, China. Yunnan is more distinctly a plateau with areas of rolling uplands, precipitous folded and fault-block mountain ranges, and deep, river-cut gorges. About 6,000 feet (2,000 m) in elevation, the Yunnan part has mountain peaks of more than 12,000 feet (3,700 m) in the west. In the Kweichow

Viganò, Salvatore

2005-03-03T00:10:00.000-08:00

Viganò was born of a family of dancers and was the nephew

Chan Painting

2005-03-01T07:21:00.000-08:00

Wade-Giles romanization Ch'an school of Chinese painting inspired by the “meditative” school of Buddhism called, in Chinese, Chan (Japanese: Zen). Although Chan originated in China with an Indian monk, Bodhidharma, it came to be the most Chinese of Buddhist schools. The ideals of the school later frequently found expression in a special kind of art, typically composed

Metal Cut

2005-03-01T05:57:00.000-08:00

The English poet and artist William Blake (1757–1827) experimented with metal cuts, but the technique's greatest exponent was the Mexican

Amphion And Zethus

2005-02-28T07:18:00.000-08:00

In Greek mythology, the twin sons of Zeus by Antiope. When children, they were left to die on Mount Cithaeron but were found and brought up by a shepherd. Amphion became a great singer and musician, Zethus a hunter and herdsman. After rejoining their mother, they built and fortified Thebes, huge blocks of stone forming themselves into walls at the sound of Amphion's lyre.

Obuchi Keizo

2005-02-26T13:30:00.000-08:00

Obuchi received a degree in English literature from Waseda University, Tokyo, in 1962. The following year, he won the seat his father had held in the House of Representatives, becoming the youngest person

Philip The Apostle, Saint

2005-02-25T02:31:00.000-08:00

One of the Twelve Apostles. Mentioned only by name in the Apostle lists of the Synoptic Gospels, he is a frequent character in the Gospel According to John, according to which (1:43–51) he came from Bethsaida, answered Jesus' call (“Follow me”), and was instrumental in the call of St. Nathanael (probably

Vajra

2005-02-24T17:19:00.000-08:00

Northern Ireland's oldest interdenominational party, a small, moderate party that represents middle-class interests primarily in the eastern areas of the province.

France, History Of, Loss of political freedom

2005-02-23T23:15:00.000-08:00

Politics during the Directory had been marked by an unwholesome combination of ferocious partisanship and massive apathy. Weary of political turmoil and disillusioned by politicians of all kinds, most Frenchmen now accepted the disappearance of political freedom and participation with equanimity. The few who still cared passionately enough to resist collided

Tritone

2005-02-22T06:48:00.000-08:00

In musical notation the tritone is written either as an augmented

Eemian Interglacial Stage

2005-02-21T18:24:00.000-08:00

Major division of Pleistocene time and deposits in Europe (the Pleistocene Epoch began about 1,600,000 years ago and ended about 10,000 years ago). The Eemian Interglacial followed the Saale Glacial Stage and preceded the Weichsel Glacial Stage; the Eemian is correlated with the Ipswichian Interglacial of Britain and the Riss-Würm Interglacial Stage of the Alpine region of Europe.

Cultivator

2005-02-20T01:04:00.000-08:00

Horse-drawn cultivators were introduced in the mid-19th century; by 1870 a farmer with two horses could cultivate as much as 15 acres (6 hectares) a day with a machine the shovels (blades) of which straddled the crop rows. In the 20th century, with tractor power substituted

Oslo Fjord

2005-02-18T13:11:00.000-08:00

Norwegian Oslofjorden, fjord on the Skagerrak (strait) penetrating the southern coast of Norway for 60 miles (100 km) from about Fredrikstad to Oslo. With an area of 766 square miles (1,984 square km), the fjord occupies a glacier-formed depression, or graben, that has been partially filled and partially reexcavated. The fjord's forested shoreline is dotted with numerous towns and seaports and is one of the most

Cephallenia

2005-02-17T23:20:00.000-08:00

Also called Cephalonia , Modern Greek Kefallinía island, largest of the Ionian Islands, west of the Gulf of Patraïkós. With the island of Ithaca (Itháki) and smaller nearby islands, it forms the nomós (department) of Kefallinía in modern Greece. The island, 302 square miles (781 square km) in area, is mountainous, with Mount Aínos (ancient Mount Aenos; 5,341 feet [1,628 m]) often snowcapped for months. Except for the Raki, there are few permanent streams,

China, The Tarim Basin

2005-02-17T21:04:00.000-08:00

North of the Plateau of Tibet and at the much lower level of about 3,000 feet lies the Tarim Basin. It is hemmed in by great mountain ranges: the Tien Shan (“Celestial Mountains”) on the north, the Pamirs on the west, and the Kunlun Mountains on the south. From these heights glacier-fed streams descend, only to lose themselves in the loose sands and gravels of the Takla Makan

Factory Ship

2005-02-15T02:18:00.000-08:00

The present-day factory ship is an automated, greatly enlarged version of the

Frederick Henry, Prince Of Orange, Count Of Nassau

2005-02-14T01:03:00.000-08:00

Dutch Frederik Hendrik, Prins Van Oranje, Graaf Van Nassau the third hereditary stadholder (1625–47) of the United Provinces of the Netherlands, or Dutch Republic, the youngest son of William I the Silent and successor to his half-brother Maurice, prince of Orange. Continuing the war against Spain, Frederick Henry was the first of the House of Orange to assume semimonarchical powers in foreign as

Earth Sciences

2005-02-13T13:43:00.000-08:00

The origins of the Earth sciences lie in the myths and legends of the distant past. The creation story, which can be traced to a Babylonian epic of the 22nd century BC and which is told in the first chapter of Genesis, has proved most influential. The story is cast in the form of Earth history and thus was readily accepted as an embodiment of scientific as well as of theological

Sint-niklaas

2005-02-12T10:04:00.000-08:00

French Saint-nicolas, municipality, East Flanders province, northern Belgium, southwest of Antwerp. The former capital of the Waasland region, it was granted independence by the counts of Flanders (1241) and chartered in 1513. A rail junction and the industrial and trade centre for the fertile Waasland (Pays de Waes), its marketplace is the largest in Belgium (7.5 acres [3 hectares]). It has textile industries

Arts, Central Asian, Seljuqs

2005-02-11T14:47:00.000-08:00

The art of the Seljuqs, who founded kingdoms in Persia, eastern Byzantium, Syria, and Iraq, eclipsed that of the Samanids, Ghurids, and Ghaznavids. They were great architectural patrons and constructed numerous mosques, madrasahs (Islamic religious schools), hospitals, orphanages, baths, caravansaries, bridges, and türbes notable for their decorative masonry, elaborately

Swallowtail Butterfly

2005-02-11T04:35:00.000-08:00

Any member of the insect subfamily Papilioninae of the cosmopolitan family Papilionidae (order Lepidoptera). The swallowtail butterflies (Papilio), found worldwide except in the Arctic, are named for the characteristic taillike extensions of the hindwings, although many species are tailless. Colour patterns vary; many species have yellow,

Rzeszów

2005-02-09T02:28:00.000-08:00

City, capital of Rzeszów województwo (province), southeastern Poland. It lies along the Wislok River at the juncture of the Carpathian Mountains and the Sandomierz Basin. The town lies on the main Kraków-Lviv (Ukraine) road and rail line. The city's economy has expanded greatly since World War II, and some of Poland's largest metal-production plants are located there, as

Whidbey Island

2005-02-08T21:21:00.000-08:00

Whidbey also spelled Whidby island, part of Island county, northwestern Washington, U.S., in Puget Sound. Approximately 40 miles (65 km) long, it is one of the largest offshore islands in the continental United States. Its chief towns are Oak Harbor, Coupeville (a preserved historic [1875] town), and Langley. The island was named for Joseph Whidbey, the sailing master for George Vancouver. Whidbey, on June 2, 1792, as a member

Clapp, Cornelia Maria

2005-02-08T08:15:00.000-08:00

Clapp graduated from Mount Holyoke Female Seminary in 1871, and after a year of teaching elsewhere she returned to Mount Holyoke as an instructor in mathematics. Later she also taught

Francistown

2005-02-06T16:34:00.000-08:00

Town, eastern Botswana. It lies along the Tati (Tate) River and is an administrative and commercial centre. Francistown is the site of the Dumela industrial complex. Some gold is mined in the vicinity. The town lies in farming country on the country's main road and rail line. Air transport services link Francistown with Gaborone and Selebi-Phikwe. Pop. (1991) 65,244.

Bone Cyst

2005-02-05T04:57:00.000-08:00

Circumscribed, benign (noncancerous) lesion, usually saclike and filled with fluid. Unicameral bone cyst affects the long bones or heel bones in children and adolescents and is frequently detected as a result of a pathological fracture. Treatment is by excision and bone graft, but spontaneous healing is common. Aneurysmal bone cyst, usually occurring in young males,

Shamanism

2005-02-05T04:06:00.000-08:00

I.M. Lewis, Ecstatic Religion: A Study of Shamanism and Spirit Possession, 2nd ed. (1989), provides an excellent introduction. A thorough description of the shamanism of the peoples of Siberia is given in M.A. Czaplicka, Aboriginal Siberia (1914, reissued 1969); and Mircea Eliade, Shamanism: Archaic Techniques of Ecstacy, rev. and enlarged ed. (1964, reissued 1989; originally published in French, 1951), with an extensive bibliography. Eliade's work not only deals with phenomena in Central and North Asia but also in North and South America, Southeast Asia, and Oceania; especially useful are the chapters on “Shamanic Ideologies and Techniques Among the Indo-Europeans” and “Shamanic Symbolisms and Techniques in Tibet, China, and the Far East.” Uno Holmberg, Finno-Ugric, Siberian, vol. 4 in Louis Herbert Gray and George Foot Moore, The Mythology of All Races (1927, reissued 1964), describes shamanism among these peoples. A very thorough summary of the worldview and specific traits of shamanism in North Asia, based on a good knowledge of literature on the subject in Russian, may be found in Georg Nioradze, Der Schamanismus bei den sibirischen Völkern (1925); and the traits considered most significant are discussed by Åke Ohlmarks, Studien zum Problem des Schamanismus (1939). V. Diószegi (ed.), Popular Beliefs and Folklore Tradition in Siberia (1968; originally published in German, 1963), contains studies on the shamanistic conceptions of the Sami, Hungarian, and Siberian peoples. Marjorie Mandelstam Balzer, Shamanism: Soviet Studies of Traditional Religion in Siberia and Central Asia (1990), summarizes contemporary Soviet research. Several studies explore Latin American shamanism. Jon Christopher Crocker, Vital Souls: Bororo Cosmology, Natural Symbolism, and Shamanism (1985), demonstrates the intimate relationship between social structure generally—and the structure of the village community in particular—and cosmological symbolism and analyzes the role of the shaman in conserving both the social and the cosmic order; this important study also challenges psychological approaches to the study of shamanism, which focus on the shaman's apparent psychological abnormality, and analyzes the larger social forces that are gradually destroying Bororo shamanism, and with it Bororo culture in general. Johannes Wilbert, Tobacco and Shamanism in South America (1987), examines both the pharmacological and the social aspects of nicotine use by the Warao shamans of Venezuela. A fascinating scholarly and artistic exploration of hallucinogenic medicine is found in Luis Eduardo Luna and Pablo Amaringo, Ayahuasca Visions: The Religious Iconography of a Peruvian Shaman (1991), produced through a unique partnership between a professional anthropologist and a practicing Peruvian shaman. Women's roles in Korean shamanism are explored in Laurel Kendall, Shamans, Housewives, and Other Restless Spirits: Women in Korean Ritual Life (1985), while The Life and Hard Times of a Korean Shaman (1988) chronicles the shamanic career of one South Korean woman through extensive use of her own words and stories and thereby examines the recent social history of South Korea through an interesting lens. David Lan, Guns & Rain: Guerrillas & Spirit Mediums in Zimbabwe (1985), examines the complex interaction between the Zimbabwe African National Liberation Army and the traditional shamanic religious leaders of the Dande and Korekore subgroups of Shona during the 1970s; it is a good example of the study of shamanism in tension with modernity.

Ahmad

2005-02-02T09:43:00.000-08:00

Succeeding his brother as the ruler of Tunis in 1837, Ahmad began at once to modernize his armed forces: Tunisian cadets were sent to France, a military and technical academy was established, and European instructors invited to Tunis. He organized a naval force with 12 frigates purchased from France. He sent

Korbut, Olga Valentinovna

2005-02-01T15:21:00.000-08:00

At age 11, Korbut entered a Soviet sports school led by Renald Knysh, her future coach. He taught her the difficult backward somersault on the balance beam. Using this maneuver, she first competed in the 1969 U.S.S.R. championships, placing fifth. In the

Ulama

2005-01-31T22:36:00.000-08:00

Also spelled ulema , Arabic 'ulama' the learned of Islam, those who possess the quality of 'ilm, “learning,” in its widest sense. From the 'ulama', who are versed theoretically and practically in the Muslim sciences, come the religious teachers of the Islamic community—theologians (mutakallimun), canon lawyers (muftis), judges (qadis), professors—and high state religious officials like the shaikh al-Islam. In a narrower

Sarapul

2005-01-30T10:11:00.000-08:00

City and centre of Sarapul rayon (sector) of Udmurtia, in western Russia. It is a port on the Kama River. Founded in the 16th century as a Russian stronghold on the trade route to Siberia, it was attacked by Pugachov rebels in 1774; it was chartered in 1780. Sarapul's industries produce machine tools, radios, footwear, and foods. Several technical colleges and an agricultural college

English Literature, The Edwardians

2005-01-29T22:48:00.000-08:00

The 20th century opened with great hope but also with some apprehension, for the new century marked the onset of a new millennium. For many, mankind was entering upon an unprecedented era. H.G. Wells's utopian studies, the aptly titled Anticipations of the Reaction of Mechanical and Scientific Progress upon Human Life and Thought (1901) and A Modern Utopia (1905), both captured and

Mola

2005-01-29T04:57:00.000-08:00

The mola (Mola mola; see photograph) is an enormous, gray or brownish

Malakoff

2005-01-27T06:08:00.000-08:00

Town, Hauts-de-Seine département, Paris région, north-central France. A southwestern industrial suburb of Paris, it has an electrical-engineering school and manufactures electrical equipment, chemicals, pharmaceuticals, and precision instruments. The town was created in 1883 and was named for the fortress of Malakhov at Sevastopol, which was captured by the French

Harpy

2005-01-26T04:33:00.000-08:00

In Greco-Roman classical mythology, a fabulous creature, probably a wind spirit. The presence of harpies as tomb figures, however, makes it possible that they were also conceived of as ghosts. In Homer's Odyssey they were winds that carried people away. Elsewhere, they were sometimes connected with the powers of the underworld. Homer mentions one Harpy called Podarge

Bearden, Romare (howard)

2005-01-25T13:41:00.000-08:00

Bearden studied at the Art Students League in New York City with George Grosz (1936–37) and at Columbia University (1943). His early paintings were realistic and often

Yamaga Soko

2005-01-23T01:03:00.000-08:00

Original name Yamaga Takasuke , also called Jingozaemon military strategist and Confucian philosopher who set forth the first systematic exposition of the missions and obligations of the samurai (warrior) class and who made major contributions to Japanese military science. Yamaga's thought became the central core of what later came to be known as Bushido (Code of Warriors),

Anatta

2005-01-22T08:05:00.000-08:00

Sanskrit Anatman, in Buddhism, the doctrine that there is in humans no permanent, underlying substance that can be called the soul. Instead, the individual is compounded of five factors of consciousness (Pali: khandha; Sanskrit: skandha) that are constantly changing. The concept of anatta, or anatman, is a departure from the Hindu belief in atman (“the self”). The absence of a self, anicca (the impermanence

France, History Of, The Fifth Republic

2005-01-21T19:45:00.000-08:00

During his years of self-imposed exile, de Gaulle had scorned and derided the Fourth Republic and its leaders. He had briefly sought to oppose the regime by organizing a Gaullist party, but he had soon abandoned this venture as futile. Back in power, he adopted a more conciliatory line; he invited a number of old politicians to join his Cabinet, but he made sure that his

Russell, Pee Wee

2005-01-21T00:17:00.000-08:00

Reluctantly trained in violin as a child, Russell also tried piano and drums before settling on the clarinet, on which he became a distinctive stylist. Russell developed a quirky, chance-taking style that employed a generally plaintive tone punctuated by growls, squeaks, and breathy mutterings.

Hines, Earl (kenneth)

2005-01-19T22:22:00.000-08:00

Byname Fatha American jazz pianist, bandleader, and composer who was one of the strongest influences in the first 30 years of jazz history. He improvised lines with his right hand that were phrased like those of a trumpeter and—with the use of octave voicings, tremolos, and his powerful attack—caused the piano to seem almost brassy. This style,

Augustine, Saint

2005-01-18T08:46:00.000-08:00

Although autobiographical narrative makes up much of the first 9 of the 13 books of Augustine's Confessiones (397; Confessions), autobiography is incidental to the main purpose of the work. For Augustine confessions is a catchall term for acts of religiously authorized speech: praise of God, blame of self, confession of faith. The book is a richly textured meditation by a middle-aged

Faguibine, Lake

2005-01-17T13:07:00.000-08:00

French Lac Faguibine, isolated lake in Mali, west of Timbuktu (Tombouctou). It lies north of the Niger River in the Macina depression, and it is reached by branches of the Niger in times of flood. At high water it reaches a length of about 50 miles (80 km).

Ufj Holdings, Inc.

2005-01-16T18:29:00.000-08:00

Japanese bank holding company that became one of the world's largest banking institutions through the merger of Sanwa Bank, Tokai Bank, and Toyo Trust in 2001. With headquarters in Osaka, UFJ operates banks, issues credit cards, provides venture capital funding, and offers other banking and financial management services.

Chattanooga, Battle Of

2005-01-15T07:44:00.000-08:00

(November 23–25, 1863), in the American Civil War, a decisive engagement fought at Chattanooga on the Tennessee River in late November 1863, which contributed significantly to victory for the North. Chattanooga had strategic importance as a vital railroad junction for the Confederacy. In September 1863 a Federal army led by General William S. Rosecrans was besieged there by a Southern

Argelander, Friedrich Wilhelm August

2005-01-14T02:56:00.000-08:00

German astronomer who established the study of variable stars as an independent branch of astronomy and is renowned for his great catalog listing the positions and magnitudes of 324,188 stars. He studied at the University of Königsberg, Prussia, where he was a pupil and later the successor of Friedrich Wilhelm Bessel. Argelander was appointed

Macdonagh, Donagh

2005-01-13T05:25:00.000-08:00

MacDonagh was the son of Thomas MacDonagh, a poet and leader of the Easter Rising (1916). After attending the National University of Ireland, Dublin, MacDonagh practiced law (1936–46) and was a district judge (1946–68). His varied literary career includes comedies such

Iberia

2005-01-13T04:04:00.000-08:00

In full Compañía Mercantil Anónima Iberia (Spanish: “Iberia Commercial Limited-Liability Company”) Spanish airline created by law on June 7, 1940, and given rights to the air transport of persons and cargo within Spain. It took control of a privately owned company established in 1937, which in turn had revived the name of a company called Iberia, Compañía Aérea de Transportes, founded June 28, 1927; the current name was adopted in 1941. Iberia was nationalized in 1944, but in the late 1990s the Spanish

Paramagnetism

2005-01-12T22:54:00.000-08:00

Kind of magnetism characteristic of materials weakly attracted by a strong magnet, named and extensively investigated by the British scientist Michael Faraday beginning in 1845. Most elements and some compounds are paramagnetic. Strong paramagnetism (not to be confused with the ferromagnetism of the elements iron, cobalt, nickel, and other alloys) is exhibited by

Neo-confucianism

2005-01-11T07:21:00.000-08:00

In China, a rationalistic revival of Confucian philosophy in the 11th century AD that exercised profound influence on Chinese thought for the next 800 years. See Confucianism.

Heng-yang

2005-01-10T13:24:00.000-08:00

Heng-yang has been a communication centre since early times, being on the ancient post road from Ch'ang-sha into Kwangtung province

Heron

2005-01-08T09:46:00.000-08:00

Any of about 60 species of long-legged wading birds of the subfamily Ardeinae of the family Ardeidae (order Ciconiiformes) and generally including several species usually called egrets (see egret). The Ardeidae also include the bitterns (subfamily Botaurinae). Herons are widely distributed over the world but are most common in the tropics. They usually feed while wading

Argentina, Sports

2005-01-07T14:38:00.000-08:00

Argentina's worldwide preeminence on the polo field reflects the nation's divided social base, the hardiness of its horses, and the skills of its riders. Steeped in the gaucho tradition and with the open fields of the Pampas on which to practice, a ranch hand with the necessary talent can attain high renown and modest wealth at either polo or horse racing. Both the wealthy

Zahir Shah, Mohammad

2005-01-06T17:46:00.000-08:00

The sons of Mohammed Nader Shah, Zahir Shah and his brothers reasserted central government control during a period of anarchy and banditry in the late 1920s. Zahir Shah came to the throne at the age of 19, after the assassination of his father in November 1933, having previously served as

Shamanism

2005-01-05T06:49:00.000-08:00

The term shamanism comes from the

Halfdan

2005-01-05T04:20:00.000-08:00

After participating in raids on Anglo-Saxon lands to the south, Halfdan and his followers invaded the mouth of the Tyne (874) and engaged in warfare with both Picts and the Britons of Strathclyde. In 876 he distributed the large region of York among his men and may then

Friuli-venezia Giulia

2005-01-03T01:40:00.000-08:00

Regione of northeastern Italy, bordering north and east on Austria and Slovenia, south on the Adriatic Sea, and west on Veneto regione; it has an area of 3,030 square miles (7,847 square km) and comprises the provincias of Udine, Pordenone, Gorizia, and Trieste. In the north the solid wall of the Carnine Alps, broken only by the Plöcken Pass (Passo di Monte Croce) and the low Tarvisio saddle,

Arniches (y Barrera), Carlos

2005-01-02T02:55:00.000-08:00

Popular Spanish dramatist of the early 20th century, best known for works in the género chico (“lesser genre”): the one-act zarzuela (musical comedy) and the one-act sainete (sketch). These plays were based upon direct observation of the customs and speech of the lower class people of Madrid. He wrote some 270 of them and was considered a master

Pippin Iii

2005-01-01T02:24:00.000-08:00

The pope was in need of aid. Aistulf, king of the Lombards, had seized Ravenna with its lands, known as the exarchate. Soon, Lombard troops marched south, surrounded Rome, and prepared to lay siege to its walls. So matters stood when in 752 Zacharias died and Stephen II became pope. In November 753 Pope Stephen made his way over the stormy mountain passes to Frankish territory. He

Dagger

2004-12-31T07:31:00.000-08:00

Short stabbing knife, ostensibly the diminutive of the sword, though in ancient and medieval times the distinction between a long dagger and a short sword was often obscure. From approximately 1300 the European dagger was consistently differentiated from the sword; in the 16th century a school of fencing developed in which a specially designed dagger with a large guard

Skelton, John

2004-12-29T04:34:00.000-08:00

His place of birth and childhood

Fujitsu Limited

2004-12-28T21:55:00.000-08:00

Fujitsu was established in 1935 when it broke away from Fuji Electric Company, a joint venture started in 1923 by the Furukawa Mining Company and Germany's Siemens to develop electrical equipment. Fujitsu

Campaign Furniture

2004-12-26T06:38:00.000-08:00

Case furniture was usually teak,

Dan

2004-12-25T06:07:00.000-08:00

Also called Gio, or Yakuba, an ethnolinguistic grouping of people inhabiting the mountainous west-central Côte d'Ivoire and adjacent areas of Liberia. The Dan belong to the Southern branch of the Mande linguistic subgroup of the Niger-Congo language family. They originated somewhere to the west or northwest of their present lands, perhaps among the Malinke (Mandingo). The Dan are closely

Shimazu Family

2004-12-22T00:05:00.000-08:00

Powerful warrior clan that controlled the southern tip of the Japanese island of Kyushu from the 12th to the 19th century. Ensconced in their isolated stronghold on the frontier of Japan, the Shimazu were the only feudal family to play a leading role in Japanese history in both medieval and modern times. During the Tokugawa shogunate (1603–1867), the family's Satsuma fief was the

Gum

2004-12-21T02:45:00.000-08:00

Abbreviation of Gosudarstvenny Universalny Magazin (Russian: “State Department Store”), the largest department store in Russia. Situated on a traditional market site on the northeast side of Red Square in Moscow, the building originally known as the Upper Trading Arcade was designed by A.N. Pomerantsev and built in 1889–93 in a pseudo-Russian style over a hidden metal skeleton. In its original form it housed more than 1,000 shops. Reconstructed

Kwazulu

2004-12-19T13:50:00.000-08:00

Former nonindependent black state, Natal, South Africa, that was the legal home of all of the nation's Zulus. Its area was scattered among 11 exclaves (detached sections) throughout Natal, occupying more than one-third of its territory. The capital, initially at Nongoma, was moved in 1980 to Ulundi, the last historic capital of the Zulu empire (founded in 1816 by Shaka), where the Zulu

Ram Raiya

2004-12-16T01:33:00.000-08:00

Member of a group of dissenters within Sikhism, a religion of India. The Ram Raiyas are descendants of Ram Rai, the eldest son of Guru Har Rai (1630–61), who was sent by his father as an emissary to the Mughal capital at Delhi. There he won the confidence of the emperor Aurangzeb but the displeasure of his own father, who when choosing the next Sikh Guru passed over Ram Rai in favour of his younger brother

Sorel, Georges (-eugène)

2004-12-14T03:38:00.000-08:00

Sorel was born of a middle-class family and trained as a civil engineer. Not until he reached age 40 did he become interested in social and economic

Ceremonial Object, Protective devices and markers of sacredness

2004-12-12T21:18:00.000-08:00

Other objects, such as fans, flyswatters, parasols, and standards—analogous to the symbols of royalty—often complete the permanent furnishings of sacred places. In addition to their utilitarian role, they are endowed with a sacred character; fans used in Brahmanic and Buddhist cults may be compared to the flabella (“fans”) in the Roman Catholic and Orthodox churches.

Marquesas Islands

2004-12-11T23:15:00.000-08:00

French Îles Marquises, pair of volcanic clusters in French Polynesia in the central South Pacific, 740 mi (1,200 km) northeast of Tahiti. The southeastern group includes Hiva Oa (q.v.), largest and most populated and the burial place of the French artist Paul Gauguin; Fatu Hiva and Tahuata, each about 23 sq mi (60 sq km) and both rising to about 3,300 ft (1,005 m); and the uninhabited Motane and Fatu Huku. The northwestern group

Canadian Imperial Bank Of Commerce

2004-12-08T09:43:00.000-08:00

The bank was established in 1858 as the Bank of Canada and reorganized in 1867 as the Canadian Bank of Commerce. The present name was assumed upon the merger in 1961 of the Canadian Bank of Commerce and the Imperial Bank of Canada (established in 1875). Over the years the bank has absorbed

Mondino De' Luzzi

2004-12-06T19:25:00.000-08:00

Mondino received his

Allen, William

2004-12-05T07:33:00.000-08:00

Educated at the University of Oxford, Allen became principal of St. Mary's Hall there in 1556. After the accession of Queen Elizabeth

Burdekin River

2004-12-03T11:53:00.000-08:00

Coastal river of eastern Queensland, Australia. It rises on the western slopes of the Seaview Range, 45 miles (72 km) from the Pacific, and flows 440 miles (710 km) southeast and north through the Leichhardt Range to enter the ocean at Upstart Bay. Its chief tributaries are the Suttor, Star, and Bowen. The river drains an area of 50,400 square miles (130,500 square km). A 3,619-foot (1,103-metre) high-level bridge spans

Kuznets, Simon

2004-12-01T08:35:00.000-08:00

Kuznets immigrated to the United States in 1922, 15 years after the arrival there of his father (who changed the family name to Smith, though the young Kuznets preferred the original

LikeThroat

Ursula, Saint

Sarada Script

France, History Of, Rural life

Kabwe

Murad, Ferid

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Hooded Seal

Durand, Guillaume

Lancet, The

Sarada Script

Condé, Louis Ii De Bourbon, 4e Prince De

Eberhard I

Cabasilas, Nilus

Biblical Literature, Kings: the second book

Ansky, S.

Condom

Anglo-saxon Chronicle

Sundman, Per Olof

Port Blair

Mitla

Lamoricière, Christophe-louis-leon Juchault De

Alexander

Dubbing

Rubinstein, Anton

Yunnankweichow Plateau

Viganò, Salvatore

Chan Painting

Metal Cut

Amphion And Zethus

Obuchi Keizo

Philip The Apostle, Saint

Vajra

France, History Of, Loss of political freedom

Tritone

Eemian Interglacial Stage

Cultivator

Oslo Fjord

Cephallenia

China, The Tarim Basin

Factory Ship

Frederick Henry, Prince Of Orange, Count Of Nassau

Earth Sciences

Sint-niklaas

Arts, Central Asian, Seljuqs

Swallowtail Butterfly

Rzeszów

Whidbey Island

Clapp, Cornelia Maria

Francistown

Bone Cyst

Shamanism

Ahmad

Korbut, Olga Valentinovna

Ulama

Sarapul

English Literature, The Edwardians

Mola

Malakoff

Harpy

Bearden, Romare (howard)

Yamaga Soko

Anatta

France, History Of, The Fifth Republic

Russell, Pee Wee

Hines, Earl (kenneth)

Augustine, Saint

Faguibine, Lake

Ufj Holdings, Inc.

Chattanooga, Battle Of

Argelander, Friedrich Wilhelm August

Macdonagh, Donagh

Iberia

Paramagnetism

Neo-confucianism

Heng-yang

Heron

Argentina, Sports

Zahir Shah, Mohammad

Shamanism

Yunnankweichow Plateau